"Good morning, Miss Ivy... Sugar Cookie... Miss Jo... Dr. Robin," greeted the train conductor, Kalavee, tipping the brim of his hat to each of them as they entered the trolley car. His smile grew wider as each of them passed and took their seats.

"And to you, Sir Kalavee," Robin responded, nodding back and prompting a chuckle from the old man. "I must compliment you on your choice of hat this morning."

Kalavee was wearing his Kingsbury hat, which Robin had seen him scramble to put on when the driver saw Robin waiting with the ladies for the trolley.

"I'm still working on your Great Plains hat, you know. It's taking me a bit longer than expected."

Robin laughed, unsure if the old man was joking. "Take your time. I'll be staying a bit longer still, so there is no rush."

"Oh! Will ya?" Kalavee said, raising an eyebrow and shooting a quick glance at Holly, sitting behind Jo with the Nanahound on her lap, conversing with the young girl. "And staying with Miss Ivy too, huh?"

Robin's face flushed, and he understood where the old man's curiosity was coming from. The old man raised his eyebrows, and his smile spread even further.

"I received word from my brother the other day that he will take a bit longer to arrive at Sunshine Acres. Miss Ivy and I agreed that I would stay on as long as necessary, with the conditions of looking after the house and helping with the shop more often."

"Ah! I see. Nothing wrong with that," the old man nodded understandingly. "You know, I was talking with Doctor Don the other day, and he told me you guys were meeting up at Deadwood this week. I'm sure he wouldn't mind having an assistant if you need to make money while you are here."

Robin wasn't a fan of being an assistant since he was just as much a doctor as Doctor Don. Still, Kalavee was right; it would allow him to make back some of his lost funds while he was here.

Suddenly, in the corner of his eye, Robin noticed Holly nervously waving at him to come and sit.

"Um... Great idea," Robin said quickly, uncertain of Holly's distress. "Thanks, Kalavee. I'm meeting up with him today, so I'll look into that." Robin quickly walked down the aisle to sit next to the nervous-looking Holly.

"No problem, Doctor Robin!" Kalavee called to him, waiting for Robin to be seated before starting up the tram.

"Sorry," Robin mumbled under his breath to Holly.

"You are fine," Holly whispered back, motioning to the confused and a bit grumpy trolley patron who was glaring at them from the front of the tram. That lady hates being delayed and will speak up about it," Holly said, rolling her eyes and tilting her head toward the woman. I wanted to save you from having the pleasure of her tantrums."

"I'm guessing you know the joy of such an experience?" Robin whispered back.

"Oh, multiple times," Holly giggled. "Kalavee used to stop outside of Sunshine Acres so we wouldn't have to walk all the way to and from the third stop, but she put in a formal complaint to the city of Adel, so now he isn't allowed to anymore... well... when she is on the trolley at least."

"Ah, I see," Robin hummed. "Why do you use the trolley when you can just transport?"

"Oh well..." Holly suddenly seemed a bit uncomfortable. "My magic was pretty weak for a while, so I had to take the trolley to get anywhere, which is how I got so close to Kalavee. So now we just take it for fun or when we have some extra time in the mornings."

A gasp came from the seat ahead of them. Robin looked up to see Jo with her head out the window.

"Look! Look! The tart table is open!"

Holly jumped up and stuck her head out the window. She let out an excited gasp as well.

"Do you want one, Robin?" Holly asked excitedly.

"Um... yes?" Robin said, not quite sure what was going on.

"I'll be right back then... excuse me," Holly said, sliding past him and running to the front of the trolley. She said something to Kalavee that Robin couldn't hear over the sound of the train and pointed at the road ahead.

"NO, no, NO, Sit back down, young lady!" the old lady at the front yelled over the noise. "This trolley is no longer allowed to make unauthorized stops."

Don't worry, ma'am. I won't make him stop," Holly said as Kalavee swung open the door, and Holly jumped out of the train, tumbling out as it left her behind.

Jo laughed and ran to the other side of the trolley to watch her mentor fall beside the tracks.

Robin stood from his seat and followed Jo to the windows on the other side of the train. He watched as Holly was left behind in the prairie grass, quickly recovering from her tumble. Robin squinted against the sun, trying to see if he could tell whether Holly was injured as the distance between them grew.

"Don't worry; she does that sometimes..." Jo said, making her way back to her seat. She turned and smirked at Robin's shocked reaction.

"She will catch up in a minute, actually. See?" Jo said, pointing out the window. Robin returned to his seat to look out the trolley's window. He saw Holly running aggressively after them, her dark green skirt in hand. Her white bloomers underneath were stained with grass, her face filled with joy, and her laugh loud and breathy as she chased after the trolley.

"Go, Miss Ivy! GO!" Kalavee yelled out the conductor's window.

"Go, Miss Ivy!" Jo yelled out her window to Holly.

Holly hopped over the tracks to run up the other side, where Jo and Robin had their heads sticking out. Holly was so close to catching up to the train that she leaped to slap the back of the trolley, almost hitting it.

Robin couldn't help but laugh at the spectacle as he pulled his head out the window to watch from his seat.

Holly looked as if she was speeding up to try to touch the trolley car again when, all of a sudden, she looked past the trolley. Her face changed to one of shock and disgust. Jo, who still had her head sticking out the window watching her mentor, turned and looked ahead of them, letting out a curse before sitting back in her seat. The grumpy old lady sharply turned her head with a disapproving glare.

A second later, Robin saw what the reaction was about. As the trolley car passed the tart stand, standing and admiring the tarts while holding each other's hands were none other than Dexter and Corrine. Robin turned and looked out the back window of the trolley as Holly slowly trotted up to the stand. Her previous enthusiasm and excitement disappeared. A fake smile was plastered on Holly's face as she slowed her pace, exchanging awkward greetings with the couple.

"Hey, Jo," Robin said softly, "let's watch our language in public, okay?"

The old lady was still giving judging looks to the young girl, turning back around in a huff.

"Well, those two deserve all the curse words I know," Jo grumbled, shifting to look over her seat at him. "Hey, Cookie," she said to the small dog sitting next to Robin, having been abandoned by her owner, "Go get Holly to help her catch up, will ya?"

The white dog turned into a hummingbird and zipped out the window.

Jo continued to sit facing Robin's seat behind her, but her face was skeptical as she looked at Robin.

"Here's what I just don't get about love... Miss Holly should have known better than to love a guy who was never nice to her. Still, Miss Holly always said it's better to fall for a man who isn't interested and hopefully change his opinion than for a man you think cares about you but doesn't." She looked at him exasperated. " But I don't understand. Are those the only two options?"

"...Ah," Robin said awkwardly. "Can't say I know much about that, Jo."

"Why not?"

"Well," Robin suddenly felt very self-conscious. "My friends used to mock me for it, but all my life, I put romance aside, deeming it a distraction from my goals and work. So I really don't have as much experience with romance as most people might."

"Really?!" Jo said, surprised, looking him up and down. "You?"

Robin laughed at the girl's response, a bit embarrassed.

"Yes, me," Robin said shyly. Although I almost wish I had pursued romance in my youth and let it distract me, maybe I would have had something in my life to pull me out from my work and make me realize earlier that my job wasn't as crucial to my life as I thought it was."

"Hmm," Jo said, not understanding what Robin was saying and disappointed that he couldn't answer her question.

"So which option are you, Mr. Robin? The first or the second?" Jo asked after a moment.

"What do you mean?" Robin asked.

"For Miss Holly. Are you the first or the second option?"

Robin laughed awkwardly, a strange feeling in his stomach.

"No, Jo. I think there is a misunderstanding. I am just staying here to wait for my brother. I will leave once my brother's work is done and head back to London. There aren't any romantic feelings between Miss Holly and me."

Robin felt a strange pang in his chest as he said that.

"Oh," Jo said, sounding a bit disappointed. "The first option then," she said under her breath as she sat back down.

Jo popped back up a moment later as a new thought occurred.

"Just promise you won't tell Miss Holly you 'don't have any feelings for her.' That might just make her like you more."

Robin laughed. "Okay, Jo. I promise I won't say anything like that to her."

Jo motioned for him to make a pinky promise, and once she had received the oath, she turned back and was satisfied to sit in her seat.

Robin shook his head, turning back to look out the window to see if Holly was in view of the trolley. To his surprise, she was on horseback, quickly catching up to them. She had one hand wrapped in Cookie's mane and the other grasped a small paper bag.

As Holly and Cookie approached the train, Kalavee carefully opened the doors to allow her to jump in.

"You better have gotten one for me, Miss Ivy," the conductor shouted over the screeching of the tracks.

"No, no! This is so dangerous! One of these days, you fools are gonna get seriously hurt," the old lady screamed before turning and glaring back at Robin and Jo again. She sounded more exasperated than angry. Obviously, she had fought this situation several times before.

Holly had carefully balanced herself on Cookie's back and placed the paper bag between her teeth. Carefully jumping off Cookie's back and grabbing a metal bar on top of the trolley, she swung herself through the open door and onto the cabin.

Cookie slowed down and trotted lazily behind the trolley before running in another direction.

Kalavee laughed with glee as Holly took the bag out of her mouth and sorted through her goodies, passing him what looked like a blueberry muffin.

Kalavee nodded in thanks before taking a large bite.

"For your discretion, ma'am," Holly said, handing the grumpy old lady a slice of lemon cake.

The woman made a loud noise of annoyance and snatched the lemon loaf from Holly's outstretched hand. She looked out the window angrily and shook her head.

Holly grinned and rolled her eyes as she returned to Robin and Jo.

"Tada!" she said, settling beside Robin and pulling out three tarts from the bag.

"Thank you, Miss Holly!" Jo said, quickly taking the tart and turning back in her seat as she stuffed it into her mouth. A white hummingbird shot through the window next to Jo, and Robin heard Jo aggressively demanding the Nanadog to get off her.

""Here you are, Mr. Robin," Holly said, handing him a tart and taking a bite of her own.

"Thank you, Miss Ivy," Robin said, taking a bite of the tart she had given him. Hmm..." Robin hummed in fake disappointment. "Pear? I thought I was hoping for an apple one..."

Holly looked at him, shocked, embarrassment crossing her face.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Of course! You're probably so tired of pears by now. I should have—" she blundered.

"No, no, I'm joking," Robin said, touching her shoulder. "I have actually become quite fond of pears after living with you. This is pear-fect."

Holly tried to hide her amused smirk with a disapproving glare, turning from him without saying a word.

"Ah, I should have known. Pears are no joking matter. I'm sorry," Robin continued with a smirk, taking another bite of his tart.

"Well..that was a good pun...so I'll forgive you. Just this once."

"Just this once?" Robin said in mock surprise. "No 'always'?"

"You know," she said, her amused smile returning but sounding slightly annoyed. I was actually having a very good day until you decided to torment me all of a sudden."

"Oh?" Robin said. "Torment you?"

Holly raised her eyebrows and shrugged, not giving him an answer.

"And what had made today so nice? These pear tarts?"

"Yes, the tarts, and..." she leaned over to whisper into his ear like two school kids sharing secrets. Holly's breath near his ear tickled, and his breath caught in his throat. "I saw Corrine and Dexter at the pear stand, and Dexter got the most horrendous haircut," she said, clamping a hand over her mouth and leaning back in her seat as she muffled a laugh.

"That bad, huh?" Robin said, surprised at her reaction. He didn't realize that Dexter had gotten a haircut. He tried hard to remember what it looked like from the brief moment of passing them.

"Definitely. Unimaginably bad." Holly said, her eyes wide as if she hadn't believed it herself. "No more rocks will meet their untimely deaths in the lake for the foreseeable future."

Holly tapped her tart against his with a wink, prompting them both to take a bite.